Second Chance Prom

Floofs at the 10th Anniversary Prom in 2026.

    Not strictly music-related but for a bit of a change I'd like to announce the Second Chance Prom. I explain more there in the link. I'm also awaiting responses from a couple syndicated advice columnists. Just feeling a little green eyed seeing the kids get dolled up for the big night. Might have it at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown (formerly the historical Hotel Syracuse) as their grand reopening occurs too late for the regular prom season so it'd be in the fall but not on a Saturday due to a solid season of wedding receptions though several area proms such as West Genesee were held in the ballroom in the past over the previous few generations and new ones can now have theirs in there.

UPDATE: Found something across town. We'll see how we get on. Money for a limo wouldn't hurt though. Then again I found an article about youngsters in Brooklyn from CW 11 WPIX who want one that have it worse than we might so they deserve a few bob much more than I do. I wanna put a link to the story but the seasonal nature of proms may not give these kids much time to set up. God bless them however.

UPDATE II: Yet another one found even though I'd have to get a bus there and get a cab if not the hotel shuttle home. Also not sure if the DJs set list will be Mary Whitehouse approved to put it that way. Still it's less expensive when someone else has it as I have no experience running my own event. Money raised now could just pay for transport for me and other people without a lift.

UPDATE III: Found another one that's two counties away yet it's not that easy to get into. Watching Family Guy gave me the idea of a second chance homecoming which is sorta close but a different animal (the UK has Old Boys Day but that's not quite the same). Not sure if any school I went to would have this now and if so I could go so there's another niche to fill that isn't done often so I could make that a thing. More as this develops.

UPDATE IV: The Marriott have one now, but I'll have to wait until next year. I might just have this in an area where such a thing isn't planned and/or the closest one is out of town. More to come. A prom themed birthday party is not unheard of, but mine's in August past prime prom period, and it's too hot to be overdressed.

UPDATE V: Singers (the one from the first update last year) might take a hiatus with theirs just as Glastonbury shall next year so I'll have to shell out on downtown and/or Oswego or create my own that people can afford. It will be black tie on a budget! I would now have a reason for a GoFundMe, but these kids in Idaho with sod all have one up and they deserve it far more than I do!

These wolves are ready to party down!

Floofs are all lined up for the big night!

Yes - Like It Is (3) Live at...

Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White; 2011.

I haven't posted in a period but I'm back now with something now that's there something to write about after getting writers block here and TV Quick USA while NY Retail Roundup seldom runs out of ideas.  This is why some people just have one blog!  This is supposed to be the flagship too.

The loss of Chris Squire this past year left Yes without any original members still in the band (Peter Banks passed a couple years before, and their surviving former colleagues Jon Anderson, Tony Kaye and Bill Bruford have all left the band more than once already).  Billy Sherwood was selected by Squire himself to come back and take over on bass.  Many have slated Yes for carrying on in this manner and the fandom are torn as they have been for almost a decade since Anderson last left again.

There have been two volumes of the live release Like It Is from their current label Frontiers who fill the void of not having even existed yet in the old days to have signed the bands by releasing live albums from Yes, Asia (Geoff Downes does double duty while Steve Howe will focus on Yes and solo from here on out), Def Leppard and others.  Yes' 1971-72 and 1977 albums were revisited and the next tour will do the same for 1973 and 1980.  Half of Tales of Topographic Oceans and all of  Drama plus encores are being planned for this year and I would hope there would be an official album and DVD dedicated to Squires memory (the last one was already prepared by the time he had gone).  It'd be too easy to just get a bootleg and with more security at shows one would be lucky to sneak in a quick video on a mobile phone and I wouldn't dare do such a thing; also, I'm no Wayne Isham or Bob Clearmountain so I can't do a proper job anyway).  If they decide to have a go, then I hope they will come to the new amphitheatre across town to tape and film as the Grandstand where several past lineups have played across the street sadly went the way of the Rainbow and Marquee.  Now Roger Dean has to paint a new cover as only he can.  More on this in due time.

mp3 diet

Managed to get this on mp3 before my old service snuffed it.

I won't be uploading or downloading mp3s quite as much anymore as I had before as my longtime ISP Clear went the way of Qwest and Dreamscape and I have T-Mobile for now, but anyway, pay as you go service uses up data and what-have-you, and I can only afford so much just like with my phone (I never download directly on there).  That was never really an issue with the old guard so that's one thing I will miss.  Occasionally I may contribute more to a certain mp3 site and order from emusic (let's just say it's a polar opposite) as long as something I can use is there.  Ripping CDs may happen less often now.  Time Warner Cable and FiOS may accommodate such usage but I need a bundle on a budget and as for getting the music I want I really would rather have the CD and LP anyway like nature intended.  As for my ageing PC, it belongs in the knacker yard now as I can no longer get online with it if I wanted to, it's slower than a 100 years old sea turtle and is good for recycling sans the hard drive but I digress.  UPDATE: Now I have Karma so I'm back in action!  However, I still go through data like water!

AC/DC - 1979-10-18 - Rockville "Age Of Giants" (bootleg) · Rock and Pop Bootlegs

AC/DC - 1979-10-18 - Rockville <br><u> "Age Of Giants"</u> (bootleg) · Rock and Pop Bootlegs

PROGRESSIVE ROCK - GENESISMARILLION: Marillion - Haunters Having Lots Of Fun 1980/81

PROGRESSIVE ROCK - GENESISMARILLION: Marillion - Haunters Having Lots Of Fun 1980/81

Def Leppard remasters

Cover by Hipgnosis (Pink Floyd, Renaissance, Yes, Rainbow)

On Through the Night
Ride Into the Sun (original version)
Getcha Rocks Off (EP version)
Overture (EP version and demo)
Heat Street (originally on a bootleg)
Rock Brigade (Nick Tauber version)
See the Lights (previously unreleased)
Warchild (same)
Glad I'm Alive (demo and Tauber versions)
Wasted (single version)
Hello America (B-side single version)
Good Morning Freedom (studio and live versions)
When the Walls Came Tumbling Down (demo)
Travellin' Band (live)

High 'n' Dry (pictured)
Bringin' on the Heartbreak (1984 synth remix)
Me and My Wine (original and remix despite little significant difference in sound albeit Mutt Langes)

Slang
Last years US deluxe edition should receive an international release as I just bought this myself.  Also put the LP out abroad.  "When Saturday Comes" can be the designated bonus track in Japan.

Euphoria
Promises (video mix)
Immortal
Under My Wheels
I Am Your Child
("Burnout" and "Worlds Collide" from the Australasian edition or EU B-sides are already on the Slang remaster as they were taken from that albums sessions)

X (the most recent original album of the lot that needs an upgrade)
Kiss the Day
Long, Long Way to Go (acoustic version)
10 x Bigger than Love
Gimme a Job
Perfect Girl ("Gravity" demo)
Love Don't Lie (demo)
Let Me Be the One (demo)

Yeah!
How Does It Feel?
Action (live) (studio version of Sweet cover on Retro Active)
Dear Friends (Queen cover by Sav)
Space Oddity (RIP David Bowie)
Rebel Rebel (also a Bowie cover although from the X period this fits the pattern here better)
When I'm Dead and Gone
Elected (live) (Alice Cooper cover recorded during Adrenalize tour)
No Matter What (live) (studio version of Badfinger cover also on Rock of Ages Pan-American comp)
Little Wing (Hendrix cover with Hothouse Flowers)
Winter Song
American Girl (Tom Petty cover)
Search and Destroy
Heartbeat

It remains to be seen whether or not these will come out in the forseeable future as the band are in a bit of a row with Universal over the rights and have considered re-recording their hits note by note (which other people have done in the studio with their songs in the past) and a couple are now available on mp3.  The rights to Slang were reverted back to the band and they reissued it recently in the US through their label there Mailboat (founder Jimmy Buffett also left Universal when his new label became sister to the old one when Universal bought PolyGram, Leppards former home).  Also focus now is on the bands new long-awaited new studio album now available.

mp3 Upgrade

Not too shy shy to say this is one of the albums I did, but it's hush hush (eye to eye)!

On a certain mp3 site (I've mentioned it before so look for it) I have been upgrading tracks that have been uploaded before either by me or someone else that are 192 kbps or less when 320 kbps is more the norm so I've been spending the past couple months replacing or adding tracks even from artists I don't listen to myself.  Only last year did I change my settings on my Windows Media Player.  I let an album upload while I'm out or in another room (I let the cat watch) as a watched pot never boils.  I found a stand for my laptop at the charity shop to help it circulate air so it'll stay on.  Streaming audio uses more bandwidth and script (no interest in Spotify) than something I can download and store offline though I will always try to get the real CD and LP when I can.  It's been well over a decade since I've been able to get mp3 and gradually more technology became available to me.  Just now I'm seeing what I re-copied but not yet re-upped as things fall through the cracks and I forget as I do have a life too in case you think I don't.  There is a legal loophole that mp3s can be backup of media that you already have so if you do download please get the physical version too if you can afford it.
Read later article as to why I won't be able to upgrade any more tracks for a bit and it's not because of Martin Orford.